Water is never cheap in Colorado, and in Greeley every gallon is worth watching, which a landlord cannot do when the University of Northern Colorado’s students pay for water inside their rent. Water submetering gives owners eyes on each unit. Greeley blends student housing near UNC with a fast-growing Front Range city around it, and much of the rental stock belongs to individual landlords with houses and small multifamily. A tenant who never sees a water bill in a semi-arid state has no reason to think about the long shower or the hose left running. True Submeter puts an individual water meter on each unit and bills every tenant automatically for exactly what they use, so the full water bill comes back to the owner. Usage falls once it has a price, disputes over the split disappear, and net operating income climbs, with the system usually paying for itself within six months. Where water is this valuable, giving it away with the rent makes no sense.
